Stewart gets tossed in first period

By Cris Tiller Sports Writer

Posted:
02/23/2014 07:31:20 PM MST

Colorado Eagles goalie Marc Cheverie (39) fights to keep his position in the crease Sunday afternoon as he takes contact from Stockton Thunder winger Matt Bergland (17) and players from both teams converge on the puck.
(
Michael Bettis
)

Chris Stewart had reached his limit.

In his eyes, the officials were making themselves bigger than the game, and what's worse, to the detriment of his team. So he made a statement, and what a show it was.

The longtime Colorado Eagles coach emptied his bench of every water bottle he could find and even snatched sticks out of the hands of his players, littering the ice with debris in protest in what would eventually be a 5-4 loss to Stockton on Sunday.

It all started when the referee wouldn't let a new player take the face off in the Eagles' own end on the penalty kill because the change took too long, although an injury caused the delay, according to Stewart.

"But had (the ref) even come over and talked to me, he would have said 'An injury, no problem, we'll let it go. Next time speed up your changes,'" he said, still heated after the game. "Instead, they get on the muscle and say 'forget him' ... that's just a referee gettin' on the muscle trying to say 'you paid the money to come watch me.' I guarantee you 5,289 people didn't come out to watch him."

Stewart's antics on the bench earned him an ejection from the game and another power-play opportunity for the Thunder -- who would score on the chance -- providing the highlight for a wild opening period.

Stockton converted two power plays for goals in the first and struck 1:45 in to the game to pick up three goals in the frame. Colorado (26-16-6-4, 62 points) would get one back from Kevin Ulanski, but the Eagles trailed 3-1 entering the second.

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The Eagles made good on a power play of their own nearly 7 minutes into the second. However, Stockton would answer once more to prevent Colorado from a tie with one period to go.

Special teams were a huge factor in the high-scoring affair, with each side earning six chances and each scoring on two of them. Yet, the Thunder were constantly playing the role of frontrunner and the Eagles catch up.

Colorado Eagles defenseman Isaac Smeltzer (4), and Stockton Thunder winger Mathieu Gagnon (25), trade blows in the first period Sunday afternoon at the Budweiser Event Center. The third game of the weekend between the pair started fast and furious, and ended with a 5-4 Stockton victory.
(
Michael Bettis
)

"You'd like to get those killed off obviously, but I thought the calls were the same both ways. It wasn't an advantage that any team had," Ulanski said. "I think (close games) are good experience. That's what the playoffs are going to be like; that's what we're going to expect are close games come playoff time. We've come up on the short end too many times, but as long as we take it the right way it will be a positive heading forward."

Play went without a goal for much the third before Stockton (26-21-0-5, 57 points) beat Eagles goalie Marc Cheverie for the fifth time to push its lead to 5-3. Kyle Ostrow would make things interesting with a late power-play goal at 18:21, but time was the enemy.

Colorado gained no ground on Utah in the Mountain Division with the loss, but remain tied for second place and third in the Western Conference.

"From the goaltending out we need to get more of that consistency and reduce some of that frustration," Stewart said. "We've got to get our goaltenders winning some games ... and we need to get our defensemen and forwards contributing more so that we have a chance to win every night."